Electronic still camera for capturing and categorizing images

Abstract

An electronic camera captures images representing a variety of subjects and categorizes the image according to subject matter. The camera comprises an image sensor for capturing an image, a converter stage for converting the image into digital image data, and a memory for storing a plurality of categories providing classification of the images by subject. A processor in the camera has the capability of assigning the plurality of categories to the images captured by the camera, with each category providing a subject classification for the images. A user selects one or more categories for a plurality of images prior to capture, and an output image signal is then generated including the digital image data corresponding to a captured image and the particular category selected by the user. The categories can be default identifiers stored in the memory, or can be names, text (i.e., account number), and / or graphics overlays (i.e., company logo) entered via a host computer and uploaded to the camera memory before the pictures are taken.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention pertains to the field of electronic imaging systems, and in particular to a digital electronic still camera of the type that is used with a host computer.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]As understood in the prior art, a digital electronic still camera is a device which uses an electronic sensor to capture an image; signal processing to represent the captured signal numerically; and some storage device to preserve the numerical image data. It is further known for a digital electronic still camera to use a removable storage device, such as an integrated circuit memory card, to store images. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,016,107 describes an electronic still camera utilizing image compression and providing digital storage in a removable memory card having a static random access memory. In this camera, the integrated circuits in the removable memory card store image data and a directory locating the data.[0003]Coordination between a digital ca...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0008]The advantage of the invention is that the known provision of a simple post-capture “tag” is enlarged into useful pre-capture categories that can effectively manage images according to variable subject content. According to this invention, a digital camera includes a display-based “tag” icon / feature which the user can set to an appropriate category before taking a group of pictures. The category names can be defaults, or can be names and optional text (i.e., account number) and / or graphics overlays (i.e., company logo) entered via a host computer and uploaded to the camera before the pictures are taken. When the user selects a particular category, the category name is stored along with the image data in the image file, and any text and graphics logo, as appropriate, are overlaid onto the image. When downloading the images to a host computer, the user can select a category and download only the images which have a particular category name, or the images can be stored in folders labeled with each category name.

Problems solved by technology

Because the images are stored as sequentially numbered images, it can be difficult and time consuming to locate a group of images of interest from all of the images stored in the camera.

Images